Name: Rachid El Daif

Place and Date of Birth: Lebanon, 1945

Nationality: Lebanese

 

Education

Doctorat in Lettres Modernes, Paris III, 1974.

D.E.A. in Linguistics, Paris V, 1978.

 

Teaching Experience

Teacher of Arabic Language for Foreigners, Université de Paris III, 1972-1974.

Professor of Arabic, Lebanese University, 1974- 2008.

Visiting Professor, Université de Toulouse, April-May 1999.

Adjunct faculty, LAU, 2007- 2013.

Professor of creating writing at American University of Beirut, 2012- present

 

Publications

Various publications in Arabic on rhetoric, linguistics and literature

 

Fiction

1982, Unsiyalhuma’arita: kitab al-baligin [Unsi is Playing with Rita: A Book for Adults], al-Mu’assasa l-Jami’iyya li-l-dirasatwa-l-nasr, Beirut

          Translated into Spanish UCLM Toledo, 2006.

1983, Al-Mustabidd [The Tyrant], Dar ab’ad, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001.

1986, Fusha mustahdafa bayna l-nu’as wa-n-nawm, Mukhtarat, Beirut.  Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001.

          Translated into French by Luc Barbulesco and Philippe Cardinal under the title Passage au Crepuscule, ActesSud, 1992.

          Also translated into English by Nirvana Tannuki under the title Passage to Dusk, Austin: Texas University Press, 2001.

          Translated into Norwegian, L.S.P. 2009

1987, Ahlu z-zill [Dwellers of the Shade], Muhktarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 200.

          Translated into French under the title L’Insolence Du Serpent…ou les creatures de l’ombre  by Edgard Weber. AMAM , Toulouse, 1997.

1989, Taqaniyyaatu l-bu’s [Techniques of Wretchedness], Muhtarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001

1991, Ghaflat al-Turab [A Lapse of the Earth], Mukhtarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001

1995, Azizi as-sayyid Kawabata. Muhtarat, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes Books 2001

          Translated into the following eight European languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, and Dutch.

          German translation: Hartmut Fahndrich, Lieber Herr Kawabata. Basel, Lenos 1998.

          English Translation: Paul Starkey, Dear Mr. Kawabata. London: Quartet Books, 1999; reprinted by Interlink Books, U.S.A., 2000.

1997, Nahiyat al-bara’a, al-Masar, Beirut.

          Translated into English under the title This Side of Innocence by Paula Haydar. Interlink Books, 2001.

1998, Lernin Inglish [Learning English], al-Nahar, Beirut. Reprint Riad El-Rayyes, Beirut, 2005.

          Translated into French under the title Learning English by Yves Gonzalez-Quijano. Paris: ActesSud, September 2001.

          Translated into English under the title Learning English by Paula Haydar. New York : Interlink Publisher, 2007.

2001, Tistifil Meryl Streep [Meryl Streep can Suit Herself], Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.

          Translated into Italian under the title E CHI SE NE FREGA DI MERYL STREEP by Palma D’Amico. Rome: Jouvence, 2003.

          Also translated into French under the tiltle Qu’elle au Diable Meryl Streep by Edgard Weber. Paris: Actes-Sud, 2004

          Also translated into Greek. Athens: Kedros, 2006.

2002, ‘Insay as- Sayyara [Forget the Car], Riad El-Rayyes Books,  Beirut.

          Translated into French under the title Fais Voir Tes Jambes Leila by Yves Gonzalez-Quijano. Paris: Actes-Sud, September 2006.

          Translated into Vietnamese, 2015.

2005, Mabad Yanjah Fi Baghdad [Ma’bad Succeeds in Baghdad], Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.

          Translated into French under the title Le Musician et le Calif de Bagdad. Paris: Actes-Sud, 2006.

2005, awdatu l ‘almani ‘ilarushdihi [The German Returns To His Senses], Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.

          Translated into German by Gunther Orth, commentary by Joachim Helfer. Introduced by Joachim Sartorios. Franckfort: Suhrkamp 2006.

          Also translated into English by Ken Seigneurie under the title The German Return to His Senses, in What Makes a Man?, University of Texas at Austin, 2015.

2008, OK ma’assalami (OK Good Bye) Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.

2011, Tablit el Bahr, (Paving the Sea.) Riad El-Rayyes Books, Beirut.

2014, Hirrat Sikirida, DarAlSaqi, Beirut,

          Translated into French, (la Minette De Sikirida), Actes Sud. Paris 2017.

2016, Alwah, DarASaqi, Beirut.

2019, khta’ ghay maksoud (Unintentional Fault) DarAsaqi, Beirut.

2020, al Amira wal Khatam (The Princess and the Ring) DarAsaqi, Beirut.

 

Novels written under my supervision

 

Poetry

1979, Hinahalla al-sayf ‘ala l-sayf [When the Sword Replaced the Sun.Translated by J.D.Bencheikh as L’Eté au Tranchant de l’Epée Le Sycmore, Paris.

1980, La shay’ayafuqu l-wasf [Nothing is Beyond Description], Manshurat lubnan al-jadid, Beirut.

1992, Ayyu thalgin yahbut bi-salam[ SnowNever Falls Peacefully], Mukhtarat, Beirut.

 

Film

A film entitled “Passage Au Crepuscule” based upon my novel of the same title was directed by the Swiss director Simon Edelstein, interpreted by Jean-Luc Bideau, and released in Geneva in 2000.

A film entitled “ZennarAn Nar”   based upon my novel of the title Al Mustabid directed by The Lebaneese director Bahij Hojeij 2002.

A scenario of the film entitled “Good Morning” based on my play “Vertical wella Horizontal”,  in collaboration with Bahij Houjeij, director Bahij Hojeij 2017.

 

Theatre

A play entitled ‘Qu’elleAille au diable Meryl Streep’ based upon my novel of the same title was written by the Algerian French Scenarist Mhammad Qacimi, and produced by Nidal Achqar, in Arabic and  French.

A play entitled “Fais Voir Tes Jambes Leila” based on my novel of the same title. Brussels, Paris and Beirut.

 

Other publications

“Dialogue Between Cultures”. Text of the lecture given in Geneva at the invitation of the United Nations, on the occasion of 2001, International Year of Dialogue between Civilizations.

 

Invitations

Dozens of invitations all over the world amongst which I cite the following:

• Amsterdam 1999. “The European Cultural Institute” on the occasion of the translation of my novel Dear Mr. Kawabata into eight European languages.
• Japan 2001: Invitation by “The Cultural Institution of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs” as VIP. Two Weeks.
• Germany 2003: “Institute of Advanced Studies.” Berlin. 6 weeks.
• France 2007. “Le Centre National du Livre : Programme les Belles Lettres.” Two Weeks.
• New York, U.S.A. 2009. Honored by “Book Fair Expo America.”
• Berlin Germany. A conference was held in Berlin on May 18 on my book titled “the German’s Return to His Senses” and the reaction it provoked.
• Paris France, 2014, invited by (EHESS, INALCO, Universite Paris 8) to participate in a series of lectures on my work which were eventually published in a book entitled Rachid El-Daif, Le roman arabe dans la tourmente de la modernization.

 

Criticals books on my works

L’Univers Romanesque de Rachid El Daif. Edgard Weber. Paris, L’Harmatan, 2001.

Rachid el Daif. Le Roman Arabe dans la tourmente de la modernisation. Œuvre collective sous la direction de Katia Ghosn. Paris, Demopolis, 2016.